Arknights, but the Family Has Fallen into Decline Again and Again and Again

Low blood sugar made Oute speak without thinking. "Isn't that our future?"

A delicate foot lightly bumped against Oute's cheek, but Kal'tsit did not refute him.

"It's getting late. There's still a great deal of work waiting for you to take over."

She sat beside Oute and put her boots back on.

She raised her pale, slender thigh and slowly slipped her lovely foot into a translucent boot with her delicate hands, then repeated the motion with the other foot.

"Even at Rhodes Island's current speed, the landship won't reach Lungmen until the twenty-seventh. But the signal in the wilderness is terrible. If you want to discuss matters with Karlan Trade in detail, you'll need to take a low-altitude aircraft to Lungmen this afternoon."

Oute pressed against his sternum and found that it barely hurt anymore.

He was recovering well—thirty hours sooner than the Medical Department had predicted.

He quietly got up and pulled the blanket back over Specter.

Kal'tsit turned her head away, choosing not to look at her. The breathing light on the PRTS terminal flashed and vanished in an instant.

"Karlan Trade has already replied?"

She mocked him. "As I just said, your brain should be focused on our future."

And not on tucking a blanket around a shark!

"This is the wilderness. Even though we're only two and a half days from Lungmen, the signal still isn't enough to support intercity network communications."

"There's a setting like that? I thought Kjerag just didn't have internet access!"

"Which is precisely why Kjerag still knows nothing." Kal'tsit said, "In the worst-case scenario, you'll need to contact a Victoria office through the intercity network, then contact the Karlan branch through that office, then..."

Then contact Tirakham through the Karlan branch—the only outward-facing passage Kjerag currently had.

And around a year later, during the first Great Snowstorm, Rhodes Island would still have to build its own base station just to communicate...

In short: the village wasn't connected to the internet, so communication relied on shouting.

Oh, and letters.

"All right, all right, I get it."

Oute had already washed up, changed into protective gear, and sat at the table eating breakfast.

Kal'tsit folded her arms. "You recovered faster than expected. I've already lowered the dosage and changed your medication regimen."

"For the next month, take your medicine once every day at ten and twenty-two hundred."

"Wouldn't twice a day be enough? Do you really have to set specific times?"

"If I don't set medication times and have PRTS remind you... you'll probably forget."

On the tray were a cup of warm beast milk and several slices of buttered bread.

Oute glanced at Kal'tsit, narrowed his eyes, and said, "I'll drink the milk first. Heat up the bread for me and bring it to my office later."

He picked up the cup and left, grabbed the PRTS terminal from the table, and added, "PRTS, once Specter wakes up, tell her where we are."

The terminal replied, "Understood, Doc Otter."

Heat up the bread?

Kal'tsit frowned.

Wait! Oute! You!

"If you want to anger me, you should find a better way."

Oute turned back. Kal'tsit could clearly taste the teasing in his voice. "Although I didn't hold you accountable in front of W, you never should have hidden their matters from me in the first place."

"Since you asked me to return as commander, I should be the one making decisions regarding all intelligence."

"Consider this a small... punishment."

Kal'tsit's face darkened as she carried the tray back to the cafeteria.

Not long after.

"Come—"

Before Oute could finish saying "in," Kal'tsit forcefully threw open the office door and slammed the freshly heated bread down in front of him.

It nearly flew off the tray.

"YOUR! BREAD! ORGANISM!"

At the office door, she turned and gave Oute a disgusted look. "It's getting late!"

It was getting late? You meant it was already too late?

The reheated bread carried a toasty, slightly burnt aroma.

Oute watched Kal'tsit's disgusted face as he dug in with gusto.

"Also, since you're going to Lungmen this afternoon, take the contract with you. No need to trouble two people with the same task. I can focus on performing a few more surgeries."

Since Rhodes Island had more resources to spare than in the original timeline, it had also rescued more refugees.

Because of Black Snake's utter lack of decency, Chernobog had faced the Catastrophe head-on. As a result, a considerable number of the refugees Rhodes Island had taken in over the past two days suffered from acute Originium Infection.

Moreover, the Reunion Movement's breach of the city had brought plenty of deliberate slaughter and desecration. Even setting Originium Infection aside, many people still required emergency intervention from the Medical Department.

With Oute recovering quickly enough to lead the negotiations, Kal'tsit preferred to focus her efforts on medical matters and directly pushed the other work and authority onto Oute.

Before closing the door, she gave one last warning. "Bring a squad of operators with you in case anything happens! And! Don't just casually drag people into dreams these next few days!"

He had no intention of listening.

Oute regretfully stuffed the last slice of bread into his mouth.

Looking at Kal'tsit's pretty face, disgusted yet forced to obey, he felt like he could eat several more bowls of food.

This jerk's XP system was really weird!

With PRTS assisting him, handling Rhodes Island's routine affairs was not difficult for Oute. The difficult part was that he did not like the standard way Rhodes Island handled many of those matters.

Even more difficult was the fact that the entire Chernobog incident had unfolded rapidly in the original timeline—within ten days to half a month.

It was an extremely narrow window.

So narrow that many elite operators who were away on assignments all across Terra had no time to return.

Oute could only use his imagination and make the most of the hand he currently held to maximize Rhodes Island's interests.

Amiya pushed open the door, carrying another stack of documents. Her eyes barely rose above the top of the pile.

To keep the documents from scattering, she had to lean backward as much as possible.

She looked adorably clumsy.

"Doc Otter! These are the materials you needed," she said cheerfully.

The Judge, the Jury, the Executioner, and Also the Warden!

"Thanks for your hard work."

Oute gently stroked Amiya's head. After the little rabbit enjoyed it for a while, she asked, "Doc Otter, what do you need these documents for?"

On Terra, office work via terminals was still little more than a toy for a handful of nations and regions. Paper-based work remained dominant.

He flipped through the pages one by one and casually explained, "Rhodes Island has great potential for transporting goods. I'm considering what supplies we should purchase next."

"Necessities and raw materials, such as sugar and salt, have stable value. But because of Rhodes Island's routes, our bulk trade partners often have the ability to produce those goods themselves. Under those circumstances, the profit margin on bulk commodities is questionable."

"With that in mind, regionally distinctive industrial and agricultural products should have much higher profit margins."

"But finding buyers for them is itself a problem... Thanks."

Specter silently poured two cups of tea.

Two cups!

Oute fell into thought, then returned to the documents.

Simply put, what he wanted to do was trade between regions.

Across this ocean-like land formed by landships and mobile cities, landships like Rhodes Island served the role of ocean transport. They moved cargo between mobile cities, weaving together the continent's economic system.

Oute's index finger unconsciously tapped against the desk.

Considering the Seaborn problem and the flashpoints where various conflicts would erupt, Rhodes Island's landship absolutely had to visit Kazimierz's rural regions and Siesta during the first half of this year.

Otherwise, the Seaborn issue would become exceptionally troublesome later.

The rural regions lacked sugar, salt, and certain types of industrial goods, while Siesta, as a tourist city, needed to import large quantities of agricultural products...

He also needed to account for Kjerag, Lungmen, and Chernobog...

As he turned the pages, a vague trade route took shape in Oute's mind.

He stretched, rose to his feet, and said, "It's about time I headed to Lungmen."

"Huh!?" Amiya looked confused. "Wasn't Doctor Kal'tsit originally scheduled to handle the preliminary negotiations? And I remember it wasn't supposed to be today!"

"I recovered faster than expected," Oute said succinctly.

"Then..."

Seeing the longing in the little rabbit's eyes, Oute pinched her slightly baby-fat cheeks. "No, you can't come with me."

"Kal'tsit dumped her work on me and went to perform surgery on the patients."

"And if even Rhodes Island's true leader sneaks off with me, then Rhodes Island really will be leaderless!"

Amiya's cheeks were incredibly soft, and Oute liked the feel so much that he kept pinching them more happily.

The little rabbit mumbled, "But if Doc Otter goes alone..."

Specter softly said, "I will offer all of my strength... to the Lord."

Amiya was surprised to hear Specter take the initiative to speak. "Miss Specter?"

But soon, Amiya clasped Specter's delicate hands in both of hers and smiled. "Then I'll be counting on you, Miss Specter!"